“They said you were very enthusiastic.”
Brodie barked a laugh. “That does not sound like a compliment.”
Suddenly the door bashed open and Noah stalked in, dripping wet, long black slicker done up to his chin, a puddle already on the floor around his boots. “We’re gonna need some help out there,” he said by way of greeting.
“Why, what’s happened?” His mom and Logan were up in an instant. Brodie felt his heart sink, this was the last thing he needed.
“The river’s burst its banks.” Noah was rummaging through drawers looking for things as he was talking. “The cattle are up there and the water’s rising too fast.”
Martha was already pulling on her boots and Logan had his jacket and hat on as Noah added, “We need to get them moved. Now.”
Brodie closed his eyes. If only he’d left as soon as he’d finished packing last night. Saving cows from the river was his least favorite job. It had only happened once before in his life, and it had lodged its place right up there at the top of the list as an experience he never wanted to repeat. Trying to drag cattle back to safety was a nightmare.
But if his mom and Logan were going, Brodie knew he had to go, too.
Noah was already back out the door.
“Brodie there’s a spare slicker?—”
“I know—” he cut his mom off “—on the peg by the door.”
He got up and reluctantly yanked on a dark green waterproof, zipping it up and pulling up the hood. He hadn’t worn one of these for a while. He swapped his trainers for a pair of Noah’s old boots and followed after the others into the torrential rain.
Out in the yard, it was all shouting and commotion. His dad was heading out, rope slung over his shoulder. Rocky the dog was barking, desperate to get moving. Noah pointed Brodie in the direction of the lovely palomino mare he’d seen when he was there the other day and said, “You take Dove.”
Brodie saddled her up and jumped on. He couldn’t deny the rush of adrenaline now that he was racing out over the pasture. This was the fun bit. Logan was slightly ahead. Brodie knew he could sense the distance between them. It wasn’t the time to be messing about racing but it was innate in them all. He felt his skin prickle with every foot they gained, aware that Logan would be battling to stay ahead.
Then they got to the north pasture and the ground beneath them started to disappear into water. The grass was nothing now but a flood plain. Cattle wading, waist deep, others huddled on high ground. His dad was wading out trying to corral them away from the deeper water. One little one was trying to swim but got sucked under and away. It was impossible to tell where the edge of the river was but the current in the center was hurtling along, frothing and tumbling, debris from the mountain swept along with it. On the back of his horse, Noah lassoed the frantically flailing calf with brisk efficiency, bracing as the rope went taut against the onslaught of the river.
Brodie had memories of this as a kid. His dad snatching the lasso off him to do it himself when he fumbled a throw.This is why you practice!Even in emergencies there was a lesson to be learned.
“Brodie, is that your phone?” Logan shouted over the noise of the rain as he followed Martha further up the river.
Brodie hadn’t heard it but could now feel it vibrating in his pocket. He fumbled with the slicker to reach his back pocket. It was raining too hard to see the screen properly, but he thought it said Maeve. “Hello?”
“Is Zoey with you?”
“No.” He frowned. “Why would she be with me? Where is she?” He felt a chill run through his blood as he looked around through the cascading rain.
“I can’t find her. She’s not here.” The panic in Maeve’s voice was palpable.
“Where is she?” Brodie found himself half shouting, cupping the handset so he could hear better.
“I don’t know!” Maeve shouted back. “She wanted to see you, she’d made you something. I had to tell her you were leaving. She was really upset, she went up to her room… She’s not there. What am I going to do?”
“Okay, slow down.” Brodie tried to think straight but couldn’t handle the panic in her voice, or the million and one possible scenarios popping into his head, each one more terrifying than the next. Emergencies were not his forte. He glanced around for Logan or one of the others, but they were all further upstream now, engrossed in the cattle rescue. “So, she’s looking for me. Does she know where I live?” He started to pull Dove around, thinking he’d head back to his condo.
“No, but she knows Martha’s your mom—she knows the ranch.”
“Well, I’matthe ranch,” Brodie replied, looking back in the direction of the house, just a speck in the distance. He should go back. “So if she turns up here?—”
Suddenly he heard a small, high voice shout, “Brodie!”
He looked across the river to see a small figure on a red bike pedaling frantically through the forest path, as if he’d conjured her up himself. “Brodie!” she shouted again, waving through the rain, hair plastered to her head, wobbly on her bike in the mud. It was definitely Zoey.
He thought his heart might pop out of his body it was suddenly beating so fast. “Stay there!” he hollered. “Don’t move!” There was water everywhere, rising higher by the second, mud gushing down the mountain.
“Brodie, what’s going on?” Maeve’s voice was even more frantic on the other end of the line.
